Nov 19, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Medical laboratory professionals will be surprised to learn that some experts claim American healthcare will not see a return on investment from use of EHR systems
It is the popular wisdom today that universal adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems will lead to significant improvements in patient outcomes, while also delivering substantial cost savings to the American health system.
However, this trend also requires clinical laboratories to spend substantial amounts of money to provide electronic interfaces between their laboratory information systems (LIS) and EHR systems of their client physicians.
Until recently, very little criticism of these federal EHR subsidies has appeared in the media. However, some experts now assert that tens of billions of dollars hospitals and physicians are spending to implement EHRs and integrate their information systems will never be recouped by downstream savings. (more…)
Jul 23, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Uncategorized
New database of diabetes patients opens door for pathologists to improve existing medical laboratory testing algorithms
Integration of healthcare informatics is proceeding at a brisk pace. The latest evidence comes from 11 highly-respected integrated health systems that are pooling data to create the largest, most comprehensive private-sector diabetes registry in the country. It will contain information from 1.1 million diabetic patients.
For clinical laboratory managers and pathologists, this “super diabetes database” demonstrates that many multi-hospital health systems are now willing to pool patient data to make it easier to identify clinical trends. This data will also be used to develop more sophisticated evidence-based medicine (EBM) guidelines—many of which will involve better utilization of medical laboratory tests.
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Jun 25, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Adoption of EHR systems by small practices, small hospitals, and rural health providers lags behind the pace of urban-based hospitals and physician groups
As larger numbers of physicians implement electronic health record (EHR) systems, clinical laboratories are faced with the task of building interfaces that connect their laboratory information systems (LIS) to those EHRs.
Recent numbers indicate that hundreds of thousands of physicians are now enrolled in the federal EHR incentive program. This puts medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups squarely in the midst of the drive to encourage physicians to both implement an EHR in their clinical practice and use that EHR in ways that meet “Meaningful Use” requirements.
Some 225,765 providers are participating in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) report that almost $4.5 billion in financial incentives have been paid to hospitals and physicians for implementation of electronic health record (EHR).
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May 14, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical Laboratory leaders can expect increasing demand for LIS-physician EHR integration
Hospitals are adopting electronic health records (EHR) at an accelerating rate. That’s the good news. But many hospitals lack the resources to acquire an EHR and implement it in a fast and robust manner, as many pathologists and clinical laboratory managers know from experience.
That makes the accomplishment of Banner Health all the more impressive. Last week, it was announced that 17 of Banner’s 22 hospitals have achieved Stage 7 of the EMR Adoption Model (EMRAM) developed by HIMSS Analytics, which is part of the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS).
Banner Hospitals Reach Higher EHR Functionality
InformationWeek Healthcare published a story about this news. It stated that those 17 Banner hospitals “have developed a comprehensive EHR that includes everything from computerized physician order entry and electronic documentation to a data warehouse, closed-loop medication administration, and health information exchange capability.”
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Apr 20, 2012 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
As part of NYC’s PCIP, physicians utilize clinical laboratory testing more effectively to diagnose disease and monitor patients
Seven years into a targeted program to use clinical data to drive measurable improvement in the health of patients with chronic diseases, health officials in New York City are declaring the effort to be successful at meeting several important goals. Some healthcare experts say NYC’s innovative project provides valid insight into the future of American healthcare.
Some pathologists and clinical laboratory managers are already familiar with what is called the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), organized and manage by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYDOHMH).
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